Bangladesh is failing to take advantage of duty-free access to the UK market for non-readymade apparel, despite having a large Bangladeshi emigrant population living in the UK.

Sectors such as agricultural products, processed foods, fish, leather and footwear, and light engineering products have failed to extend their footprint, with RMG exports to the UK market more than doubling over the past decade. The problem appears to be a lack of information and unresolved issues surrounding setting standards and market promotional activities.

Of the total exports to the UK, only 7% came from non-RMG sectors. Bangladesh could benefit from the UK's Rules of Origin (RoO) and diversify its export basket by having unrestricted access to the British market. The Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID), a Bangladeshi think tank, believes that the UK's Duty-free Tariff Scheme (DCTS) could be a game-changer for Bangladesh to break its reliance on the RMG sector.

Before this can happen, there needs to be a major effort to address the lack of awareness and information gap between buyers and sellers, establish adequate compliance rules to meet the UK's strict standards, and reduce local taxes to encourage more companies to abide by UK standards. Policymakers need to take a long and hard look at exports and be serious about the paradigm shift Bangladesh needs for the transition from a single-sector export basket to multiple-product diversification.